Thank you to the Americans who have taken time out of their 4th of July celebrations to read the column today. Cody Bye, our resident expert on celebrations even took time out to write a blog.

Mr. Bye also filled in for me yesterday as the keyboard artist behind this column. Thanks Cody. His column told the tale of a woman who developed a relationship online that eventually ended in her arrest. Read the blog and then check out WiredSafety.org [Thanks Val]. Protect your kids folks. Nobody else is going to do it for you.

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More WoWHead drama has crawled from the rubble of the recent sale, spawned by a leaked shareholders' document. It is encouraging that gold selling companies need to take such labyrinthine paths to hide what they own. The Wandering Goblin has a long and rigorous survey of the situation posted for your reading pleasure in "Gold Selling and the Art of Disinformation"

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I was saddened to receive an email stating that Auto Assault would be closed down as of August 31, 2007.

"Today NCsoft is announcing that it will be closing down service for Auto Assault at the end of the summer. The service will close at midnight on August 31, 2007. As of today, any player currently in the service with an active billed account will not be billed again. If players have previously purchased time via multi-month billing or time cards that extends their service past July 31, NCsoft will reconcile these accounts appropriately. There will be more announcements coming soon regarding the shut down of Auto Assault and its impact on current accounts. Please check back at www.autoassault.com for more information."

I like the gang at NetDevil and I liked this game. The innumerable articles attempting to explain the demise of this title are sure to start sprouting. It's unfortunate and it won't save the game.

Win A Trip To SOE Fan Faire
"Win a trip to SOE Fan Faire in Las Vegas, August 2nd-5th! We've just chosen the winner of the Free Trip to BlizzCon contest, but we couldn't leave out our friends that enjoy SOE's fine and growing lineup of quality MMORPGs! That's why we're choosing one premium member from our community to send to SOE Fan Faire, all expenses paid! In addition to the event pass, we're paying for airfare (roundtrip within the contiguous United States and Canada*), hotel, and $200 expenses as a grand prize! "

Blog: Celebrating The 4th of July MMOG Style
"The Fourth of July is always celebrated with food, fireworks, family, and fun, but when things settle down, what's left to do? If you're an MMOG player, you can log into your favorite game and enjoy some 4th of July rewards! Cody "Micajah" Bye lists several games with some 4th of July events."

City of Heroes / Villains: On Site at Cryptic Studios With Matt Miller
"As the team behind City of Heroes / City of Villains prepares to launch its tenth free expansion, we spoke with Lead Designer Matt Miller and a handful of the crew on-site at Cryptic Studios in Los Gatos, California last week about Issue 10: Invasion and, in general, what it takes to keep a subscription game fresh and compelling long after the release date."

Dungeons and Dragons Online: Custom Build - Slayer of the Dead
"The Slayer of the Dead is a cleric who gives up combat prowess and some casting ability to be excellent at the defeat of the undead. Able to turn extremely well and often, and possessing other tools to fight the undead, they are a fun build and welcome in most parties."

World of Warcraft: Paladin Raiding Guide
"Now that most players have gotten to level 70 and are done with the normal instances and moving on to heroics and raids, we thought it appropriate to look at the raid aspects of each class. So continuing on from the Warlock guide from last week, I am here to look at the Paladin in the end game raiding scene."